As many as 64 cities from 44 countries have been designated as UNESCO Creative Cities by its Director General Irina Bokova. In it, Chennai has been included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for its rich musical tradition.
Some of the other cities included along with Chennai are Alba (Italy), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Auckland (New Zealand), Cairo (Egypt), Cape Town (South Africa), Manchester (UK), and Milan (Italy). With this, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network now counts a total of 180 cities in 72 countries. From India, Jaipur and Varanasi are the other Indian cities that feature on the list.